MiLB Players' Class-Action Lawsuit About Pay Allowed to Proceed by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court will allow a class-action lawsuit filed by minor-league baseball players in Arizona, California and Florida who claim they are being paid less than minimum wage to move forward.

The court rejected an appeal by Major League Baseball on Monday, per The Associated Press. Minor league players first filed a lawsuit in 2014 saying MLB violates labor laws by paying them less than $7,500 per year. 

MLB's disregard of minor league players has been an ongoing topic of discussion during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several organizations cut tens of players and several others slashed the pay of players they did keep on the roster, if not eliminated it outright. The Oakland Athletics stopped paying their minor leaguers altogether in June.

MLB players instead set up funds to help support minor leaguers through the pandemic. 

Organizations justified the moves by pointing to the lack of minor league season, but minor leaguers are poorly paid even when there is not a global pandemic. The median pay of every level of minor league baseball is well below the poverty level.